Sage Polenta Bowls with Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Wild Mushrooms

Between the book and the blog, I’ve been dealing with a lot of writer’s block lately and the internet is the best remedy for that. While writing this post, I bought a cat cave on Etsy, I browsed Houzz and remodeled my kitchen in my head (where I have an unlimited budget!), and I spent 30 minutes looking at pictures of airbrushed vans on Google Images. When I was a kid, I always wished that someday, my family would get a big van with wizard or nature scenery painted on the side. Eventually, my parents did get a big van, but there was no wizard on the side. This is how life goes. Sometimes, you wish for an airbrushed van, but you only get a regular van.

This isn’t a Christmas recipe, but it’s a good meal for this week because it’s simple and unfussy. It’s a hectic time of year and you need simple dinners! You roast Brussels sprouts and wild mushrooms in the oven and while you’re doing that, you cook a pot of polenta. Polenta doesn’t have much flavor on its own, so I’ve added some cheese and fresh sage to give it a bit of a boost. Sage is one of my favorite herbs to use at this time of year—something about it just works so well with fall and winter veggies. These polenta bowls are one of those meals that’s so delicious, it’s hard to believe how easy they are to make.

An easy, rustic vegetarian dinner made with creamy sage polenta and oven-roasted Brussels sprouts and mushrooms.

Ingredients

1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered

1 (4-ounce) package assorted wild mushrooms (fresh, not dried)

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

4 cups water

1 cup instant polenta

3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, divided

1/4 cup chopped fresh sage

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Toss the Brussels sprouts and mushrooms in a bowl with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, or until nicely browned.

While the veggies are roasting, bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan. Reduce the heat to low and slowly whisk in the polenta and continue to whisk constantly until the polenta is thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup of Parmesan, sage, and salt and pepper to taste.

Divide the polenta into 4 bowls and top each with 1/4 of the roasted veggies and 1 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese.

Comments

This looks delicious. Is there anything vegan I can sub in for parmesan as I dont eat it (vegetarian) and my son is dairy allergic. is the purpose of the cheese just to ‘cream’ it up? Really want to try this recipe. Thanks!!

I’ve seen a few people mention on Pinterest that they were going to make this recipe with nutritional yeast, although since I haven’t tried it myself, I can’t tell you how it would taste or how much to use. A vegan cheese (maybe mozzarella-style?) would probably work too. There are vegetarian versions of parmesan cheese–imported parm is always non-veg because of EU labeling laws, but many domestic parms are made without rennet. I like the Organic Valley brand myself. I know that doesn’t help your son, but in case you make it for yourself!

I made this tonight for me and my boyfriend and unfortunately found it to be very disappointing – I even added in some butter to both the vegetables and the polenta and didn’t find it to have much flavour (the best bit were the mushrooms, I have to say). Are you able to post some new veggie meals without polenta?

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Oh, hello! Welcome to Oh My Veggies, a vegetarian food blog with a focus on easy recipes made with fresh, seasonal ingredients. We're all about unfussy, delicious meals that anyone can make. When your food tastes good, you focus on what's on your plate, not what's missing from it! [Learn More]